Business Details

25

years

in Business

Hours:

Regular Hours

Mon - Fri, 9am - 9pm; Sat, Sun, 9am - varies

General Info:

The Surf Club, located on a century old estate in New Rochelle, N.Y., is a family-owned beachfront property that offers various facilities for special occasions. It is suitable for celebrations, such as weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, anniversaries and corporate events. Its professional staff of event planners, executive chefs and catering staff customize the arrangements to suit the requirements of various groups. It also offers other services, including floral decorations, limousine services, musical entertainment, photography and videography, jewelry, design draperies and printing. Its experienced staff is trained in a la carte style dinning and serves guests with a personal level of service. The Surf Club offers a wide range of cuisine to suit various occasions.

We had our wedding at the Surf Club in New Rochelle in July 2013. We had read the other horrible reviews but somehow thought it was other people just griping. Boy, were we wrong!

We had the same experience as most of the bad reviews:

- Slow service, no callbacks

- Lack of care, extremely low attention to detail

- Big promises in sales room, little delivery on big day

However, it got much worse!

1. DISHONESTY - They disrupted our wedding after the ceremony and demanded $2,500 cash before they would serve dinner. This was a false claim of "extra people" and they would not accept a check or credit card. Our groomsman had to drive all over town looking for ATM's - this delayed the wedding 90 minutes and we were not able to have a proper dance. My bride was obviously in a panic and there was no reasoning - I overheard the owner, Sal, swear at us while he was talking with one of his minions.

2. BAIT AND SWITCH - We negotiated our wedding with their salesperson, got it in writing, and then he mysteriously dissappeared from the place. We got a call months later, after paying $5K in downpayment saying "are you still getting married here?" We received a call 6 days before the wedding and they changed the signed contract by removing the Viennese hour unless we paid more!

3. UNETHICAL - They wanted everything in cash since the day we locked in our date. Perhaps everything isn't on the up-and-up. Will copy IRS on this review.

4. BROKEN PROMISES - Everything from "top shelf" liquor that was never served, to carving stations that never appeared. They force you to use their florist who then significantly overcharges. They promised to charge "half price" for children and vendors - they ended up charging us full price and more.

5. POOR TREATMENT of vendors - the photo booth guy had to carry his equipment up the stairs because they gave him a liability excuse on the elevator. The DJ, videographer and photographer were all limited to what they could do and where they could go even though we had the place to ourselves. While they were demanding the extra cash from #1 above - they would not let the DJ play music.

Needless to say, it was a cluster from the very beginning. They have a nice location, but feel that no effort or investment needs to be made on customer service.

Mr. Christopher R. Gizzo and Staff, Thank you for giving us some of the greatest memories of our lives. We could not have asked for a more perfect wedding reception. Your level of professionalism and attention to detail are second to none. We knew of The Surf Club?s extraordinary reputation when we selected your beautiful reception hall for this once in a lifetime event, so our expectations were high. The Surf Club not only lived up to our expectations, they far exceeded anything that we could have imagined, and for this we could not thank you enough. It was important to us when choosing a reception hall that they were passionate about making each night special for each individual couple. Chris, your passion was obvious to us from the start. From the selection of the delicious menu items all the way down to the color of the napkins, you have a passion for providing a unique and eloquent experience. Your passion and attention to detail have touched each staff member at the Surf Club and deserves our greatest appreciation. At first we were going to write about how many compliments we received on the orchestration of the reception and how all the food was cooked to perfection, but we feel that what truly allows The Surf Club to achieve these high standards is having a leader such as yourself at the helm. We are writing this letter in hopes that the next person that sits in your office can rest assured that they have made the perfect choice for their next event in choosing The Surf Club. In choosing The Surf Club, you are without a doubt, ensuring that you will receive the reception that you always imagined you would have. We hope that this letter conveys our greatest appreciation for the amazing job the Surf Club performed. You only have one day to get it right, and The Surf Club did. Chris delivered on every promise, fulfilled every wish and accommodated every need.

My son had his wedding at this facility and it was AMAZING!!!! The service was excellent, the staff was friendly and knowledgeable. The view of the Long Island Sound is something out of a magazine. I recommend this facility to everyone. What a great day!

I HAD MY WEDDING AT THE SURF CLUB IN NEW ROCHELLE, NY AND IT WAS HORRIBLE....THE FOOD WAS HORRIBLE AND THE STAFF WAS NOT FRIENDLY. I DO NOT RECCOMEND ANYONE TO HAVE THERE WEDDINGS THERE. ALL THEY DID WAS MAKE ENDLESS PROMISES THAT NEVER CAME TRUE.

I got married at the Surf Club on a Saturday evening in the fall. We had 200 guests and had our party in the downstairs room. The dancefloor was huge and there was plenty of room for everyone to get out there (and they did!). Guests said the only time they knew it was a ""big wedding"" was during the cocktail hour, when they were at the buffet stations and that was only because they waited for the delish appetizers and the martini bar.

The staff was great at keeping things moving. Didn't matter if the temperature dropped and they had to roll out the tarps to keep the patio warm or 12 people tried to cram at a table set for 10, they adjusted quickly and always remembered who was the guest and who was paying the bill.

We felt we got a GREAT value for our money. Our guests raved about the food and the service could not be beat. Our maitre'd and bridal attendants took care of everything, right down to making sure we posed for the pictures we wanted and had a chance to taste everything. They even packed up the penne ala vodka for us to eat on our honeymoon with the leftover cake.

The food at our wedding was even better than the food at the vendor fair. We had branzino, chicken ciolino, and prime rib as our entree options and everyone seemed to love them. Neither of us tried the chicken (who eats chicken when there is steak or beautiful fish?) but heard no complaints from guests. The cake baker was so flexible, he took my order (green with chocolate dots) over the phone and the buttercream frosting was excellent in taste, color, and texture. Everything done by Surf turned out better than we could have imagined.

As the bride and groom, we felt perfectly taken care of. At the end of the night, our parents could not have been happier with the Surf Club. From sales to logistics, greeters to managment, maitre'd to waitstaff, the team at Surf Club is unmatched. A ton of food, generous bartender, and excellent service.

We attended a wedding that has a minimum of 350 guest. The food for the cocktail hour is great. Although for that much guest they didn't put enough tables and chairs to sit in. The view were fabulous though, eventhough it was raining. Everything went downhill from there. Our head waiter were terrible. We had plates with butter but no bread. We had mixed fruit as starters and that was good. But the pasta does not have any taste and the salad lacks dressing. The filet mignon does not taste like filet mignon at all and even if they asked how you like your steak it's still well done when you get it. And one of us who ordered the steak got an extra piece of meat that looks like somebody started eating on it. Disgusting!!

Anyone who is looking to book a function in this place better prepare themselves for a letdown especially when it comes to food and service.

The cocktail hour was not organized, stations were out of plates, other stations were out of cutlery, other stations out of food, some stations were not manned, you could not ID the food lying there, it was an overcrowded room. the mensroom had ONE stall and ONE urinal for hundreds of people. the waitress spilled a drink down the back of my cousins dress, got the chair too, i had to ask for the chair to be changed, i'm not impressed with this hall whatsoever. the entree of chicken was dried out, and stuffed, which was never mentioned when the choices were given, oh yeah, in closing, the valet did not know where or what my car was, bad club, never mind the surf.